'Nim's Island' passes 'Leatherheads'

Fox fantasy adventure “Nim’s Island” jumped past George Clooney’s “Leatherheads” for the second spot at the weekend box office, reversing Sunday’s order of finish.

Final figures released Monday showed “Island” nearly matching its Sunday estimate with $13.2 million while the Universal pic’s number slid 6% to $12.7 million. And U’s estimate for Sunday’s total missed by about 28%.

Rival studios had indicated on Sunday that they believed Universal’s estimate for its period comedy was overly optimistic. But a U rep said the Sunday estimate was based on comparisons of performances by similar pics.

The “Leatherheads” performance came in well under pre-weekend forecasts, which had it coming in first.

Fox distribution chief Chris Aronson said “Nim’s Island” should show respectable traction in coming frames thanks to spring vacations in a significant number of markets plus lack of new competition for the family demo.

Sony’s gambling drama “21” won its second straight weekend as it came in slightly above its Sunday estimate with $15.3 million for a 10-day cume of $46.8 million.